National Parks June/ July... A/C needed?
Hi, We are taking a 1 month trip out west (from PA) starting June 17th. All of our National Park campsites are no hookups and I'm trying to decide if I should buy a generator to run the A/C at tim...
Forum Discussion
It is a question of what you are willing to personally tolerate.
In the 1960s we did these trips across the Great Plains and through the Rockies to Yellowstone and Glacier in a travel trailer without air conditioning pulled by a car without air conditioning. Temperatures were sometimes triple digit, but we would seek out shade or spend a lot of time in the water during the hottest parts of the day. Nights at Glacier actually dropped below 60 F, but we didn't turn heat on, sleeping bags were warm enough.
Today, folks still tent camp in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas with temperatures in the high 90s or low 100s. They build bonfires to sit around in the evening. Although I'm almost 60 years older, and less heat tolerant, I still do a lot of stuff outside in the heat of the day, but reserve the most strenuous activities for early mornings when it is in the 80s, or in evening as the sun goes down.
I do like to run the A/C for sleeping, but during the heat of the day, in full sunlight, the A/C is usually doing pretty well if it can get the interior of my RV down to 85 F. If the outside temperature is below 85 by the time I go to bed, I'll shut off A/C and open my windows to the breezes and night noises.
For reference, I don't usually cool my home below 82 F from June through August.
Your idea of what is comfortable may be different. If you want temperatures in the low 70s, you probably need A/C.
In the 1960s we did these trips across the Great Plains and through the Rockies to Yellowstone and Glacier in a travel trailer without air conditioning pulled by a car without air conditioning. Temperatures were sometimes triple digit, but we would seek out shade or spend a lot of time in the water during the hottest parts of the day. Nights at Glacier actually dropped below 60 F, but we didn't turn heat on, sleeping bags were warm enough.
Today, folks still tent camp in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas with temperatures in the high 90s or low 100s. They build bonfires to sit around in the evening. Although I'm almost 60 years older, and less heat tolerant, I still do a lot of stuff outside in the heat of the day, but reserve the most strenuous activities for early mornings when it is in the 80s, or in evening as the sun goes down.
I do like to run the A/C for sleeping, but during the heat of the day, in full sunlight, the A/C is usually doing pretty well if it can get the interior of my RV down to 85 F. If the outside temperature is below 85 by the time I go to bed, I'll shut off A/C and open my windows to the breezes and night noises.
For reference, I don't usually cool my home below 82 F from June through August.
Your idea of what is comfortable may be different. If you want temperatures in the low 70s, you probably need A/C.
